The complexity and variety of nursing is being celebrated as International Nurses Day is marked throughout the Bay of Plenty today.
Traditional perceptions of nursing were no longer accurate said Bay of Plenty District Health Board (BOPDHB) Director of Nursing Julie Robinson, as the profession had evolved.
"The variety of roles nurses play and the contribution they make across the community, not just in the hospital setting, is huge now," Ms Robinson said.
"Many still see nurses as people who take temperatures and comfort their patients but, whilst those are important roles, nursing is much more complex than that.
"Nurses work in intensive care, the Emergency Department, neonatal, primary care, to name but a few. It is a psychologically, emotionally and physically demanding job but nurses are amazingly resilient and passionate and turn up day after day to help others. We want to acknowledge that today."